Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER AND

PROGRAMMING

Programming Fundamentals

Chapter 1

Hardware and software

Programming Languages
Problem solution and software development
Algorithms

Programming Fundamentals

Computer Hardware

Input unit
Output unit
Memory unit
ALU
CPU
Secondary storage

Programming Fundamentals

Input Unit and Output Unit

Input Unit
- It obtains information from various input devices and
places this information at the disposal of the other units.
- Examples of input devices: keyboards, mouse devices.

Output Unit
- It takes information that has been processed by the
computer and places it on various output devices.
- Most output from computer is displayed on screens, printed
on paper, or used to control other devices.

Programming Fundamentals

Memory Unit

The memory unit stores information. Each computer

contains memory of two main types: RAM and ROM.

RAM (random access memory) is volatile. Your

program and data are stored in RAM when you are using
the computer.

ROM (read only memory) contains fundamental

instructions that cannot be lost or changed by the user.
ROM is non-volatile.

Programming Fundamentals

ALU and CPU

Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)

ALU performs all the arithmetic and logic
operations.
Ex: addition, subtraction, comparison, etc..

CPU
The unit supervises the overall operation of the
computer.

Programming Fundamentals

Secondary Storage

Secondary storage devices are used to be

permanent storage area for programs and data.
Examples: magnetic tapes, magnetic disks and
optical storage CD.
Magnetic hard disk
Floppy disk
CD ROM
etc

Programming Fundamentals

Some terminology

A computer program is a set of instructions used to

operate a computer to produce a specific result.

Writing computer programs is called computer

programming.

The languages used to create computer programs

are called programming languages.

Software means a program or a set of programs

Programming Fundamentals

Machine languages

Machine languages are the lowest level of computer

languages. Programs written in machine language
consist of 1s and 0s.

Programs in machine language can control directly

to the computers hardware.

Example:
00101010 000000000001 000000000010
10011001 000000000010 000000000011

opcode

address parts
Programming Fundamentals

Machine languages (cont.)

A machine language instruction consists of two

parts: an instruction part and an address part.

The instruction part (opcode) tells the computer the

operation to be performed.

The address part specifies the memory address of

the data to be used in the instruction.

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Assembly languages

Assembly languages perform the same tasks as

machine languages, but use symbolic names for
opcodes and operands instead of 1s and 0s.
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An assembly language program must be translated

into a machine language program before it can be
executed on a computer.

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Assembler

Assembly
language
program

Translation
program
(assembler)

Programming Fundamentals

Machine
language
program

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High-level Programming Languages

High level programming languages create computer

programs using instructions that much easier to
understand.

Programs in a high-level languages must be

translated into a low level language using a program
called a compiler.

A compiler translates programming code into a lowlevel format.

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High-level Programming Languages (cont.)

High-level languages allow programmers to write

instructions that look like every English sentences
and commonly-used mathematical notations.

Each line in a high-level language program is called

a statement.

Example:

Result = (First + Second)*Third

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Application and System Software

Two types of computer programs are: application

software and system software.

Application software consists of those programs

written to perform particular tasks required by the
users.

System software is the collection of programs that

must be available to any computer system for it to
operate.

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Examples of system software

The most important system software is the operating

system.
MS-DOS, UNIX, MS WINDOWS, MS WINDOWS NT

Many operating systems allow user to run multiple

programs. Such operating systems are called
multitasking systems.

Beside operating systems, language translators are

system software.

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PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

Some well-known programming languages:

FORTRAN
COBOL
BASIC
PASCAL
C
C++
Java

1957
1960s
1960s
1971 Structure programming
Object-oriented programming

What is Syntax?
A programming languages syntax is the set of rules for writing
correct language statements.
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The C Programming Language

In the 1970s, at Bell Laboratories, Dennis Ritchie and Brian

Kernighan designed the C programming language.

C was used exclusively on UNIX and on mini-computers.

During the 1980s, C compilers were written for other flatforms,
including PCs.

To provide a level of standardization for C language, in 1989,

ANSI created a standard version of C, called ANSI C.

One main benefit of C : it is much closer to assembly language

other than other high-level programming languages.

The programs written in C often run faster and more efficiently

than programs written in other high-level programming
language.
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The C++ Programming Language

In 1985, at Bell Laboratories, Bjarne Stroutrup created C++

based on the C language. C++ is an extension of C that adds
object-oriented programming capabilities.

C++ is now the most popular programming language for writing

programs that run on Windows and Macintosh.

The standardized version of C++ is referred to as ANSI C++.

The ANSI standards also define run-time libraries, which

contains useful functions, variables, constants, and other
programming items that you can add to your programs.

The ANSI C++ run-time library is called Standard Template

Library or Standard C++ Library
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Structured Programming

During 1960s, many large softwares encountered severe

difficulties. Software schedules were late, costs exceeded
budgets and finished products were unreliable.
People realized that software development was a far more
complex activity than they had imagined.
Research activity in the 1960s Structured Programming.
It is a discipline approach to writing programs that are clearer
than unstructured programs, easier to test and debug and
easier to modify.

Chapter 5 discusses the principles of structured programming.

Pascal (Niklaus Wirth) in 1971.
Pascal was designed for teaching structured programming in
academic environments and rapidly became the preferred
programming languages in most universities.

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Object Oriented Programming

In the 1980s, there is another revolution in the

software community: object- oriented programming.
Objects are reusable software components that
model items in the real world.
Software developers are discovering that: using a
modular, object-oriented design and implementation
approach can make software development much more
productive.
OOP refers to the creation of reusable software
objects that can be easily incorporated into another
program.

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Object Oriented Programming (cont.)

An object is programming code and data that can be

treated as an individual unit or component.
Data refers to information contained within variables,
constants, or other types of storage structures. The
procedures associated with an object are referred as
functions or methods.
Variables that are associated with an object are
referred to as properties or attributes.
OOP allows programmers to use programming
objects that they have written themselves or that
have been written by others.
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PROBLEM SOLUTION AND SOFTWARE

DEVELOPMENT

Software development consists of three overlapping

phases
- Development and Design
- Documentation
- Maintenance

Software engineering is concerned with creating

readable, efficient, reliable, and maintainable
programs and systems.
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Phase I: Development and Design

The first phase consists of four steps:
1. Analyse the problem
Analyse the problem requirements to understand what the program
must do, what outputs are required and what inputs are needed.

2. Develop a Solution
We develop an algorithm to solve the problem.
Algorithm is a sequence of steps that describes how the data are to
be processed to produce the desired outputs.

3. Code the solution

This step consists of translating the algorithm into a computer
program using a programming language.
4. Test and correct the program

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Phase II: Documentation

Documentation requires collecting critical

documents during the analysis, design, coding, and
testing.
There are five documents for every program
solution:
-

Program description
Algorithm development and changes
Well-commented program listing
Sample test runs
Users manual

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Phase III: Maintenance

This phase is concerned with

- the ongoing correction of problems,
- revisions to meet changing needs and
- the addition of new features.

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ALGORITHMS

You can describe an algorithm by using flowchart

symbols. By that way, you obtain a flowchart.
Flow chart is an outline of the basic structure or
logic of the program.
Another way to describe an algorithm is using
pseudocode.

Since flowcharts are not convenient to revise, they

have fallen out of favor by programmers. Nowadays,
the use of pseudocode has gained increasing
acceptance.

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Flowchart symbols
Terminal
Input/output

Process

Flowlines

Decision

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Example
Start

Input Name,
Hours, Rate

Calculate
Pay Hours Rate

Note: Name, Hours

and Pay are variables
in the program.

Dislay
Name, Pay

End

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Algorithms in pseudo-code

You also can use English-like phases to desribe an

algorithm. In this case, the description is called
pseudocode.

Example:
Input the three values into the variables Name,
Hours, Rate.
Calculate
Pay = Hours Rate.
Display Name and Pay.
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Loops

Note:
1. Loop is a very important
concept in programming.

Start

2. NUM NUM + 1 means

NUM 4
SQNUM NUM2

Print
NUM, SQNUM

old value of NUM + 1

becomes new value of NUM.
The algorithm can be described
in pseudocode as follows:
NUM 4

NUM NUM + 1

do

SQNUM NUM2

No
NUM> 9?
Yes

STOP

Print NUM, SQNUM

NUM NUM + 1

while (NUM <= 9)

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